Congratulations to the Newlyweds
On Saturday, DemonDancer, Mr IT and I headed down for Turtle Girl’s wedding to … well … Mr Turtle LOL. It started at 3PM in the duck ponds at Lake Alford, followed by a reception at the Apex Pavillion at the Exhibition Centre. The service was a beautiful and simple civil ceremony with a small gathering of family and friends. Turtle Girl looked absolutely gorgeous in her off-white (ivory, bone, cream - whatever you’d like to call that colour) dress, and the 2 bridesmaids looked so pretty in their fuschia/magenta dresses. The guys were all dressed in black pants and shirts (no jackets) and ties to match the bridesmaids.
Apart from being slightly windy, the weather was beautiful. There weren’t too many frills, which is just like Turtle Girl’s style (simple yet beautiful). It was such a happy occasion that Mr Turtle was moved to tears as he spoke his vows. We didn’t know many people so we stuck fairly close to Mr and Mrs Married which was good.
At the ceremony, there was one guy who was quite attractive (and I am wondering if he’s originally from The Gymp lol), but he gave off the gay “lovely” vibe. I asked DemonDancer what he thought and we went through the check-list: well-dressed (pink shirt), good hair (where he wasn’t balding), not trying to see in my low-cut dress as every other straight man was, and seemingly uncomfortable. Figuring that Mr and Mrs Married might have more of an idea being part of the family, we asked them. They didn’t know who he was but when DemonDancer mentioned that because I found him somewhat attractive, it meant that he was gay, they cottoned on to why we were asking. DemonDancer decided that continuing on to say that I was having a bit of trouble finding a suitable suitor prompted them to think of a list of straight single men they knew that they could set me up with. Despite my protestations. The conversation continued way too long and I was happy when the bridal party arrived in two old Holdens so the focus could be taken off me lol.
Her mother’s husband walked her up the aisle and the ceremony was quite quick. After the paper signing and family photos, the boys and I hung around and chatted with Mr Married (Mrs Married was doing the family thing), taking the opportunity to take photos of ourselves all dressed up. While we were doing that, we saw that apparently Pink Shirt was the maid of honour’s boyfriend. I’m sure she’ll wake up to it one day … he’s very much in the closet at the moment. The reception room didn’t open until 5PM so we asked a friendly camera man to direct us to the best pub to have a couple of drinks - the Jockey Club just a few hundred metres from the reception room. We steeled ourselves for short Gympie people, but found that apart from the usual rednecks, it was quiet enough in the room we were in that we weren’t too scared. And hey, when Mr IT was able to buy 2 Smirnoff Reds and a coke and still get $12.60 change from a $20.00 note we figured it was a good place to drink! We took the opportunity to write the card at that point (we had tried to find a funny wedding card or at the very least a funny 50th anniversary card that we could work with, but alas there seems to be a lack of comedy in greeting cards … well good comedy anyway … so we had to suffice with buying a funky card and doing the hard work ourselves) and had a bit of trouble. We decided that we’re great at coming up with inappropriate prose for cards (so much so that we have some gems that we could open our own company with) and finally managed to come up with this:
May the joy and love you shared today
Grow and deepen in every way.
May the passage of your years together
Bring nothing but fine and sunny weather.
Thank you for letting us share your day
Fingers crossed that he’s not gay!
(good luck breeding!)
LOL. Yesm, still quite inappropriate (but a whole lot better than some of the variations tee hee), but we figured that coming from us, we could get away with it. DemonDancer did warn Mrs Turtle to take it as a joke lol, just in case. We arrived at the reception too late to see the new husband and wife make their entrance L but we got to mingle for a bit with the others and play nice before the dinner started. We were seated with Mr and Mrs Married and a few other family and friends of both bride and groom, overall a pretty friendly table. We really didn’t take advantage of the cheap drinks tho (2 vodkas and lemonade only cost $8!) … I worried about the car ride home and wanting to last the distance that night.
It was good convo at the table with Mr and Mrs Married, though it turned back to me and my single status after a while, and I really didn’t want to go into it. But good points were made and they said some lovely things. Then Mr Married showed that he’s quite a good judge of people’s characters : somehow we got onto the subject of travel agents and how it’s a dying breed and I wasn’t sure I could even make a career out of it anymore. Mr Married replied that he thought I’d make a great interior designer, I have a flair apparently. My jaw dropped … I’ve always thought that I would love to be an interior designer (and yes, this was even before I started to watch Will & Grace), but had never really said anything to anyone about it. To have Mr Married just say it was a bit of a shock. Of course then my transformation into Grace would be complete lol. I complained (half-heartedly) that that would mean more study because it’s a pretty busy industry and he suggested that I become a tour-guide because of my way with people. As much as that would be a good job, I’d be away for long periods of time, and replied that maybe a representative for a wholesaler would also be good. Because maybe I need a shake-up and not do the same thing day in and day out, same faces, same problems, same music. I’m not quite ready to make a huge change just yet, but I’m a lot closer than I have been … but interior design is a much preferred option. His second suggestion though was just as switched on as his first and it just goes to show just how much attention he does show to things. Mrs Married found herself a good man, not my type, but they’re good together.
Later in the evening, Mr Married tentatively asked, “Frangelica, can I ask you something?” I replied that of course he could. Then he said to not worry, it was ok. I said that there was obviously something he wanted to ask, shoot. “Ok, well um … is um … is Frank gay?” I blinked, thinking ‘they don’t know?’ I pulled DemonDancer’s trick and responded with a question: “Do you think he’s gay?” Mr Married replied that he didn’t know, he gave off mixed signals, so it was hard to judge if he liked boys or girls, or both. I tried to think quickly but was unsure as to how Frank might have wanted me to answer. I then thought, hell I can’t lie to them and it’s not like he hides things too much when we’re at coffee, so I changed the subject, picking up a half-empty salt sachet and turning into the focus of my conversation. I was trying to get DemonDancer and Mr IT’s attention, but they were caught up talking with the lady next to me, so I was left to try and figure out what the hell to do. I continued the joke for a few moments before just saying “yes”. Mr Married wasn’t surprised, he just wanted to make sure. I still didn’t like “outing” Frank, but again, I wasn’t going to lie for him.
Pretty soon it was time for the first dance and that was about the time I felt a bit more emotional. Don’t get me wrong, the whole day was beautiful but the only time I’d really shed a tear was when Mrs Turtle showed me a charm on her bracelet - a holographic picture of her deceased father. Not because I didn’t care, but I don’t really cry at weddings, I figure they’re supposed to be a happy event lol. The reason I was crying was also different to what my friends thought - I was not getting depressed due to my lack of love in the friend department. I was looking at Mrs Turtle and remembering us at TAFE and all the fun we had and the silly moments and the serious moments … and all of those memories just made it a bitter sweet moment. I couldn’t believe my little girl was married. But she’s happy and that’s all that matters. Bouquet-throwing time and it was just the maid of honour (with the closeted boyfriend who told her to run away from it *ahem*), myself and the DJ out on the floor for the toss … I didn’t even get a chance lol, the maid of honour lifted her arm and caught it. Tee hee. When Mr Turtle tossed the garter, we were watching a very reluctant Pink Shirt out on the floor, quietly amused.
We left not long after and the boys dropped me at Friday’s by about quarter to 11. The lineup wasn’t too bad but it wasn’t long before Smoulder spotted me and up to the dedicated girl’s line I went, in 5 minutes later J It was pretty quiet inside as well at that stage (but it got busier later on) and I wandered over to Tha Boyz to say hi. I walked past a table of two 12-year olds on the way who wolf-whistled at me, making Tha Boyz look up and take note of the plunging neckline. They still hadn’t started, or if they had, they had stopped because of battery problems which they were in the process of fixing. I was on my own for a little while because the girls were at a 21st birthday party for a friend of Djembo Man, so I grabbed a drink and just perched at the usual table and watched Tha Boyz do their thing. It wasn’t long before a guy walked past that looked familiar, and he looked at me like I was familiar, too. When he came back out of the bathroom we both did the ‘I know you from somewhere’ look and smile, and he turned to look back at me, but I still couldn’t place him. It wasn’t until his friend arrived that I realised that he was - Mr Professional, ChaCha’s friend (Bosno’s ex-girlfriend) that I met at the Buderim Tavern months ago. They adopted me for a while until all the girls arrived, but I made sure that through out the night I went back and spent time with them as well. Tho apart from dancing, I didn’t really spend too much time with anyone, I was randomly wandering a lot like normal lol. I didn’t really run into anyone I knew, but I was walking in front of Mr Hottie coming up the beer garden ramp and when I turned to say hi, his jaw dropped - he hadn’t recognised me from behind lol.
We were in our usual spot just before Tha Boyz started their second last set, but I was too busy doing something with the girls to hear Mr Musician saying my name, trying to get my attention … until I heard “Frangelica” through the speaker next to my ear. I jumped but turned to him and he called me closer to him on the stage. He asked me if it all sounded all right. I said yep. He then told me that I looked beautiful in my dress. I said thanks thinking that he could see right down my top lol. During the set, I was squatting down grabbing drinks money from my bag that was sitting on the stage at Mr Musician’s feet. He interrupted the song to quip “while you’re down there Frangelica …” making me laugh. I pointed my tongue out at them as Drummer Man jokingly wiped the corners of his mouth as I stood back up lol. I mouthed “you wish” to him to which he smiled and nodded. *sigh* we both need to drink less or we might be in trouble. Or we need to drink more and then blame it on the alcohol if we do get in trouble lol. Stop it Frangelica.
After Tha Boyz finished we wandered out to the beer garden and found Dreadlocks Jnr who’d come out for a bit along with Djembo Man and a couple of others. Miss Mauritius got to talking with one of the guys that she’s went to school with (and has been eyeing off the last couple of weeks) and everyone was doing their thing. I wandered back in to say good night to Tha Boyz, having a chat (what’s new?). Mr Musician wasn’t overly talkative but Drummer Man wasn’t letting me go. I said a couple of times that I just wandered in to say good night and I should really go home, but then I sat down on a speaker and that was the end of that lol. Drummer Man asked why I was thinking of leaving so early (it was 2:30AM). Um, cos I was tired. A few minutes later Mr Musician got me to hop up cos that was the speaker he needed to pack, so I sat on the stage lol. Drummer Man asked about the guy I had been dancing with (some random who had a go with Miss Teacher, Miss Mauritius and myself), where was he? Um, who knew and who really cared lol. He seemed surprised and I joked that I had someone waiting at a party for me, that’s where we were headed next. He stopped what he was doing and turned to me. “Oh really? Have you really got someone waiting for you?” As he looked at me I just laughed and said that he was either asleep or most probably hooking up with someone else, so no, not really. With that I laughed and diffused the situation.
After a little while I again said that it was time for me to go. He wouldn’t hug me goodbye, saying it was still early. It was almost 3AM. I said good night again and he reluctantly said good night, normal hug and woggy kiss on both cheeks … he said “we might still see each other before we go home”. I replied that if we did then we’d just have to have another hug and kiss. “I like that idea, I might just have to come and find you all” *big grin* lol he’s a nong. I walked away to go find everyone again, and not 10 minutes later was back in that room with Miss Teacher and PeaceAngel because they wanted to say good night to Tha Boyz. The stage was empty though and they seemed to be gone, which we thought was odd because they hadn’t said goodbye to PeaceAngel - they may not see her again before she goes. Anyway the girls went into the bathroom and I stood by the bar nearby, where I felt water being sprayed at me. I looked up just in time to see Mr Musician disappearing out the back, the little shit had been throwing water at me. He waved his arm goodbye and he was gone, I didn’t have the chance to call out to him to wait. When the girls came back out we headed back to the beer garden where we met up with Dreadlocks Jnr. Miss Vegan, Djembo Man, Miss Mauritius and her possible new squeeze were getting ready to go back to Dreadlocks Snr’s place to continue to party. That peeved Miss Teacher because PeaceAngel had left to drive InYerFace home but was coming back to grab some of us and go to Dreadlocks Snr’s place. Miss Teacher wanted everyone to wait for PeaceAngel (I personally didn’t see the huge problem, we weren’t going to be that far behind them). Either way, it pissed her off and set the scene for her emotional roller coaster for the rest of the night/morning. Now, though they left the venue before us, they didn’t actually drive away straightaway … they were waiting in the car park for us - but we didn’t know that until Djembo Man came up to the barrier and tried to call Dreadlocks Jnr. In the meantime, Dreadlocks Jnr and I were able to have a rather interesting conversation.
Miss Teacher somehow managed to slip Olly into the conversation, saying that if he was back at the party then I’d be happy. Dreadlocks Jnr asked if I was interested in Olly. I said that I thought he was a cutie, but I wasn’t interested seriously (and I wasn’t - he’s 18!!). I asked if Olly was interested in me (damn alcohol :S) and Dreadlocks Jnr replied, “He might be … actually he probably is, why wouldn’t he be?” Then he got all serious and said, “But Frangelica … and I say this cos you’re an awesome girl and deserve the best … and tho I love Olly, he’s a great mate … he’s also a bit of a sleaze and you could do so much better”. I knew that, and gosh, I wasn’t looking for anything too deep, there’s just a spark there. And I said as much to Dreadlocks Jnr, who replied that he knew, he realised, he saw the spark, everyone saw the spark. So I commented that maybe a pash and dash wouldn’t be so bad, it would relieve the tension lol. Dreadlocks Jnr laughed and said, “Well yeah, go for it, just don’t expect much else”. I assured him I wouldn’t lol.
PeaceAngel arrived back and after we said goodbye to Smoulder, we took off to Dreadlocks Snr’s place, which wasn’t too far away. It was 3:30AM by this stage and I should have followed my gut and just gone home, but I didn’t :S Miss Teacher’s mood did not improve at all as she watched Dreadlocks Snr and Victoria’s Secret act cosy, and then PeaceAngel and Miss Vegan disappeared inside for some d&m and Miss Mauritius was keeping herself busy with the guy she liked … so she got a bit emotional sitting and talking to Dreadlocks Jnr. I was just sitting (Olly wasn’t there), the tiredness catching up with me. Dreadlocks Jnr was looking at me, then piped up and asked if I wanted him to call Olly. I genuinely didn’t so I said “No” quite adamantly. He replied with, “Ok cos I can call him if you want me to, but I’m kind of glad you answered the way you did … he’s a bit of a meatball … I love him and stuff, but such a meatball”, which made me laugh.
After a while, Dreadlocks Jnr went inside for some reason and left Miss Teacher on her own. She wasn’t a happy girl. Because I wasn’t being much use to the conversation between Miss Mauritius and Clean Cut, I grabbed a chair and sat with her. It wasn’t long before we decided to leave, and she was so pissed off at everyone that she didn’t even want to say goodbye. We wandered to the main intersection near the house, which was probably equidistant to both our houses and she called a cab. That’s when she broke down and started to cry … she felt underappreciated, forgotten and quite upset about the whole stupid “competition” with Miss Vegan for PeaceAngel’s attention. She thinks it’s silly and tries to take a step back from it, and she actually does. But I can see the competition a mile off, I’m not sure that anyone else does, but then again, you get that being a people-watcher. So I’m sure our taxi came and went (we were on the opposite side of the road to what she told the cab company), though I was keeping an eye out and no cab slowed down for us … except for a cab full of guys who were sweet enough to stop and make sure we were ok.
At about 4:30AM, we saw PeaceAngel’s car turn out from the intersection - Miss Mauritius was also in the car. They saw us and stopped on the side of the road. Miss Mauritius waved from the car and I waved back, but they neither opened a window or a door. After a few moments, they drove off, bewildering (if not also angering) us both. We figured they might come back and Miss Teacher didn’t want to be sitting in the same place when that happened, so we moved to a more hidden spot behind one of the stores. After a while Miss Mauritius rang Miss Teacher’s mobile, but she didn’t reply. Not long after, my phone rang, just as I predicted it would. I wasn’t sure if I should have answered it, and I took so long with my procrastination that I missed the call. But I called Miss Mauritius straight back so that she knew we were ok. I tried not to tell her where we were because Miss Teacher wasn’t ready to see them just yet. We just sat for another little while (during which time she took the convo - for some reason - to Drummer Man and how he loves Sweetheart, but he’s not in love with Sweetheart, and he knows it but is just settling because he found someone of the right vintage with big tits). She then called Miss Mauritius and it wasn’t long before PeaceAngel came by again to pick us up. What topped off my rather ordinary end to the night though was when I ripped my dress as I got up from where we were sitting. The bottom of the silk layer got caught under my heel and *riiip* … it’s not huge and it’s close enough to the hem but it still pissed me off so much. It had survived Friday’s (tho perfume was spilt on it at Dreadlocks Snr’s place) but as fate would have it, it couldn’t survive the entire outing. I’m sure there’s some kind of spray that you can apply to things like this and it melds it all back together … but if it can’t be fixed, I’ll just have to have the dress shortened slightly - it sits just below the knee anyway, so it won’t be a big deal. It just really pissed me off.
PeaceAngel drove us back to Miss Teacher’s house where they had a bit of a chat in the car while I called a taxi to take me home. PeaceAngel had offered and insisted on driving me home, but I just wanted to go and I wasn’t sure how long they’d be … also my house was really out of the way for PeaceAngel, so I felt bad. Apparently the convo didn’t resolve anything anyway … PeaceAngel only sees the good in people (it’s quite frustrating lol). And though I was probably saying the same things as PeaceAngel, it’s not what Miss Teacher wanted to hear - she wanted someone to bitch with, which neither of us were prepared to do. I got to bed by about 7AM (mum was asleep - my phone call at 4AM to say I was safe just delayed was what she needed) and I set my alarm for 10AM. I woke up at 6:40PM, in the same position I went to sleep in. Yikes. Whoops. Mum wasn’t overly impressed, but she could have been worse.